Three-Way 22" LED LCD Roundup: Dell, LG, And Samsung

LG E2241S / E2241T/ E2241V

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The E2241V sits on the budget end of LG's LCD product family. Though it's decidedly less spectacular than some of the cheaper IPS-based monitors, the E2241V has aesthetics better geared to a business environment. If you regularly work in well-lit environments, this comes as a welcome relief. 

LG frames the display around a plastic casing that has the look and feel of brushed aluminum. Our only compliant concerns the poor base support, as there's nothing anchoring the bottom (it's nothing but cheap plastic). For the price, we expected a better design. This monitor runs for $189, which is $10 more than the SR2220L. At least Dell uses a steel metal plate to give its monitor more stability.

The E2241V offers three inputs as well: DVI, HDMI, and VGA. Additionally, it's the only screen in our roundup that offers an audio output able to play back content piped in over HDMI. So long as your display device supports this feature, you're able to take advantage of it using LG's solution.

OSD configuration is straightforward, but the options aren't as complete as Dell's. There are fewer options that allow you to tweak color profiles, for example. Adjusting Black Level (two settings) allows you to control contrast ratio a bit, but the end result isn't very helpful. When you set the Black Level setting to low, then you get dark blacks. Then the whites look less intense, though. If you set the Black Level to high, you get lighter blacks and the whites look brighter. Ideally, you should probably just use the low setting in poorly lit environments and high when there's more light in the room.

  • compton
    I've put a Jihad out on TN panels. There are so many decent, cheap e-IPS panels out there. At their worst, eIPS screens are better than TN, and at their best comparable to much more expensive IPS units. There isn't really a reason to consider TNs anymore. It's bad enough that every laptop has a TN (except for a few 12" Lenovos), but why rape your precious eyeballs with a terrible TN on your desk? With that said, I look forward to monitor reviews, and this is a pretty good one.
    Reply
  • acku
    Point taken. The key is finding those good IPS panels. There are good IPS monitors and there are bad ones. In the same way, there are good and bad TNs.

    I mean if we're breaking down everything down to tech...
    VA are great at black
    IPS are probably the best at color accuracy
    IPS better at color shift resistance, but you get light bleed at angles.
    TNs better than IPS for motion blur, IPS better than VA for motion blur
    VA and IPS both suffer a bit from flashlighting and clouding effects
    TNs don't have great color, but offer decent middle ground
    TNs are dirt cheap
    TNs generally have lower lags

    Big generalization here. The point is that nothing is perfect. If it was, there would be little point to advance technologies. In the end, you pick your imperfection.

    Cheers,
    Andrew Ku
    TomsHardware.com
    Reply
  • Gamer-girl
    How about 24"+ 1920x1200 monitors?
    Reply
  • acku
    9516998 said:
    How about 24"+ 1920x1200 monitors?

    I can do that. For whatever reason, I don't see that many 1920x1200 monitors. Most of the time I see 1920x1080.

    Is there a particular reason that you prefer 1920x1200?

    Cheers,
    Andrew Ku
    TomsHardware.com
    Reply
  • clownbaby
    +1 on 1920x1200 monitors.

    "Is there a particular reason that you prefer 1920x1200?"
    The extra desktop space really helps in my design workflow and adds quite a bit of space over 2 or 3 monitors.

    Reply
  • soccerdocks
    ackuI can do that. For whatever reason, I don't see that many 1920x1200 monitors. Most of the time I see 1920x1080.Is there a particular reason that you prefer 1920x1200?Cheers,Andrew KuTomsHardware.com
    I would also be interested in seeing some 1920x1200 monitors. The reason I prefer that resolution is I find that having that extra vertical space is very useful for productivity software, especially word documents. However, for gaming the resolution really doesn't matter to me.
    Reply
  • acku
    9517001 said:
    I would also be interested in seeing some 1920x1200 monitors. The reason I prefer that resolution is I find that having that extra vertical space is very useful for productivity software, especially word documents. However, for gaming the resolution really doesn't matter to me.
    Any specific monitors? The list is pretty short on 1920x1200.
    Reply
  • I agree with the above comments. I loath the 16:9 aspect ratio, and would really like to see some coverage of 4:3 or 16:10 monitors, which (IMO) are much more useful for doing work.
    Reply
  • ksampanna
    How about an eyefinity/surround test with a range of TN, IPS monitors across a range of budgets? I know this is pretty huge, but you are toms, so you should be able to easily pull it off.
    Reply
  • Gamer-girl
    The dell ultrasharp 24 inch mainly
    Reply